By Perry Duffin and Michael McGowan
A drug addict who bashed a police sergeant with a brick and left her for dead is still violent in prison, refuses drug treatment and does not have a place to stay if released – but is being recommended for parole because experts say he is “institutionalised”.
NSW Premier Chris Minns admitted the systems for victims must do better after the Herald revealed the Victims Register could not notify Samantha Barlow about her attacker’s parole hearing, leaving her in the dark until the eleventh hour.
Former police officers Samantha Barlow, and husband Laurence, only found out her attacker was up for parole through unofficial whispers.Credit: Janie Barrett
“The system isn’t good enough, so I’d like to see changes because we need to be completely transparent with victims of crime,” Minns said.
On Thursday, Barlow locked eyes with Roderick Holohan for the first time in 15 years, as he dialled in to the State Parole Authority from Long Bay prison.
Barlow was walking to work at Kings Cross station in May 2009 when the junkie smashed her head up to 20 times with a brick.
Holohan was on parole at the time after doing the same to another woman in 2004 and stabbing his partner in 1997.
Barlow made a miraculous return to work after the attack, but soon left the force.
“Surely, when someone on parole tries to kill another human being they give up their right to parole in the future,” she told the hearing.
“Why are we even considering letting him back into the community we all live in?
“He ruined my life, I lost my career, I cannot smell or taste food and never will... Surely, he has no right to any form of freedom until he has served 100 per cent of his sentence.”
Holohan refused to make eye contact with Barlow, nor her husband Laurence, also a former police officer.
NSW Premier Chris Minns says the Victims Register “isn’t good enough”.Credit: Janie Barrett
Holohan, the SPA heard, had been a troublesome prisoner with a lengthy history of misconduct.
Officers discovered a metal weapon, manufactured and hidden inside his cell, in 2020, even as he took part in a program for violent offenders.
He was aggressive to prison staff in 2023 while he was supposed to be preparing for his first parole date last November. Holohan also racked up an intimidation charge in March this year.
The SPA heard conflicting reports about Holohan’s engagement with an addiction service, and on two occasions in the past six months he has refused treatment for his drug problems.
Barlow pictured in 2011. She returned to work after the attack, but has now left the force.Credit: Photographic
That need for heroin is what inspired Holohan to attack Barlow in 2009, robbing her for just $200 so he could get a fix.
Holohan on Thursday muttered angrily and attempted to talk over State Parole Authority chairman Geoffrey Bellew, SC, and lawyers for the State of NSW who were concerned about his “high risk of violent reoffending”.
The Serious Offenders Review Council (SORC) earlier this year recommended Holohan for release to parole because a lengthy term of supervision would help keep the community safe.
The SORC advice is not the sole voice considered by the parole authority, however.
Another expert from NSW Community Corrections, Jessica Bassili, told the hearing Holohan wanted to go back to Nowra so he could “reconnect with country”.
Community Corrections also recommended Holohan for parole because he is institutionalised, and it would be detrimental to keep him in for another year.
Minns on Thursday said he was “very concerned” after the Herald reported Barlow was only informed of Holohan’s upcoming parole hearing through a friend last Friday.
“We need to be in a situation where victims of crime know exactly when the perpetrator of that crime is up for parole, when they’re likely to be released, when the hearing is taking place, so they can be heard by the authority,” the premier told reporters.
The Victims Register, which works with victims of serious crimes, is an opt-in service and the Barlows say they were not approached in 2009, so they fell through the cracks.
They said victims should not be expected to make strategic decisions during the most harrowing time of their life, or else be left in the dark forever.
Minns said the register should always be opt-in/opt-out to prevent victims from being retraumatised if they wanted to move on.
But, he added, victims needed to know the register was available to them “to participate in the process at their own discretion”.
“I’m sure we can do it in a better way so that a hero like officer Barlow doesn’t find out about it in the media, and doesn’t have enough time to make a victim’s impact statement to the parole authority,” Minns said.
The State of NSW formally opposed Holohan’s release saying he had no accommodation, family or social ties and had a terrible prison record.
Holohan has not been reclassified as minimum security, so cannot participate in supervised day leave.
The SPA will release its decision at a later date.
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